Stage 1 - Tuesday August 30: Glasgow - Castle Douglas, 184.2 km
By Shane Stokes
The Tour of Britain gets underway today with a 184.2 kilometre race running from Glasgow, the hometown of former Tour de France King of the Mountains Robert Millar, to Castle Douglas. The race departs from George Street at 10.30 and heads over some rolling terrain on the way to early sprints at Cumnock (53.1 km) and Kirkconnel (73.9 km). Then, twelve kilometres after the feed, the 96 man peloton will head up the first categorised climb of this year’s race, the third category Clonehead (106.5 km). Once over the summit they will descent to Dumfries (131.1 km), the site of the day’s third hot spot sprint, before some more lumpy terrain takes them to the third category climb of Craignair (175.8 km). With just 6 kilometres between the summit and the finish line some riders will try to get clear of the bunch, but the most likely scenario is a bunch sprint into Castle Douglas.
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